Cabbage
We’ve been growing cabbages for longer than almost any other vegetable. You can get red and white cabbages, found in coleslaw, Napa cabbage, usually found in Chinese cooking, pak choi, and savoy cabbages.
Nutrition
Cabbage is a fantastic source of vitamins K, C and folic acid to support blood clotting, bone health and your immune system.
Shopping Guide
Choose a fresh cabbage that is weighty for its size because it is a tough and dense vegetable. Try to pick a head that is small and has sturdy, compact leaves. While red cabbage should have richly hued purple leaves, green cabbage should have glossy, brilliant green leaves.
Storage
Cabbage keeps for a while – just store it dry in the fridge for 1-2 months. Once cut, it will still last a few days, just wrap tightly or store in an airtight container.
Serving Suggestions
Cabbage can be steamed, boiled, microwaved, stuffed, roasted, braised or stir-fried, and eaten pickled or fermented (sauerkraut) or raw in the form of salads or slaws (just mix with some mayonnaise or yoghurt, lemon juice and grated carrots and/or apples).
Seasonality
Buying veg in season is not only great for the planet, it can be good for your wallet, too! Seasonal veg are often cheaper and frequently taste better, so can be a better time to try with a child as the often sweeter, riper taste is more enjoyable.
At Its Best:
January - December
Engage
Here are some of our favourite ways to engage kids with cabbage:
Arts & Crafts
Start simple with some non-food based engagement. This is especially helpful for a fussier child or those with sensitivities around food.
For cabbage, why not try sketching a red or Savoy cabbage that you have cut in half? Try to capture the amazing patterns and colours you see with colouring pencils, pens or paint!
Science
Science allows for curiosity, play and hands-on experiments. It helps kids to become fascinated with veg – how it looks, reacts, smells, cooks and more. Finding fun and simple experiments to allow kids to play with their veg makes them curious about it and helps them approach it in a positive way.
Did you know red cabbage is a perfect PH indicator? Follow Stefan Gates’ video and tips to explore acidity and alkalinity with cabbage with his amazing colour-changing cabbage experiment. Or, explore the water-repelling abilities of red cabbage with his simple water-phobic cabbage experiment.
Sensory
Sensory exploration can be a wonderful introduction to physically interacting with veg. Turn it into a positive, pressure-free experience by starting off with the golden rules of “You don’t need to try and you don’t need to like.” Reassuring a child that, while they have a chance to taste a veg, they don’t have to, and are not expected to like it if they do, can make them more happy to engage with it.
Cabbage is perfect for exploring with sight, especially red cabbage, since it is so visually fun! Describe a whole cabbage and one cut in half. What do you see? What colours are there? What patterns? What does it look like? If you feel up to trying some, take a little piece and chew it, and then stick your tongue out when you’ve swallowed – is your tongue purple yet? No? Then try again and see how purple you can go!
Kids in the Kitchen
Children who help to prep and cook veg are more likely to eat it. If you feel your child is ready to help and could benefit from it, keep the stress and mess to a minimum by choosing one simple task for them to do as part of the prep, meaning they can be involved and feel like the recipe is in part ‘theirs’, but also not make the process too much longer or more complicated.
For a younger child, why not show them how to carefully grate cabbage and mix it with mayonnaise, grated carrots and apple, and perhaps some seasoning, lemon juice, herbs or raisins to make a yummy homemade slaw!
For an older child, it could be a great opportunity to teach some essential knife skills. Can they thinly slice the cabbage with your help using the bridge and claw techniques?
DOWNLOADS:
Use our Kitchen Ninja chart and videos to find simple ways for kids to help in the kitchen.
Your Food
Find your go-to meals in our family favourites section and see what veggies work best with them.
Find out how to add more veg to your suppers here.
Recipes
If You Like Cabbage…Try
Does your child enjoy cabbage? That’s great! Cabbage varieties can be very different from each other, but many are bitter and soft, so why not try a similar texture and/or taste…
Serving
The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it!
The first thing to do is remove the pressure. If the veg doesn’t get eaten, it’s not the end of the world. There will be other days, other dinners, other chances. Fun is key here – try not to worry about mess, perfect table manners, or playing with food. Instead, focus on making the process of getting the food to the plates, readying the table, and the actual eating relaxed.
The best principles for success here are the Three Rs (role modelling, rewarding, re-offering) which you can read about here.
But there is one more way you can serve for success, and that is giving your child a role. You don’t have to do this every time, just encourage them in their strengths through it when you can.
Here are some of our favourite ideas:
Design a menu
Come up with a silly name or story for a dish
Help with making a meal plan and choosing veg for dinners or snacks
Help to serve up the meal on dishes, lay the table or create a centrepiece to be involved in the physical ‘serving up’ process
The Wonderful World of Veg
Check out our vegepedia. When to buy in-season. How to store them to keep for longer. How to engage children with each veg, and simple ideas of how to prepare and cook them for maximum taste and minimum waste. Select a veg…